Tom Lawrence started out as an engineering apprentice at an automotive company in Liverpool in the UK. He worked in this industry for a few years, throughout which he found himself working under multiple managers who were not particularly good leaders. These were the quintessential managers of the past… people who just focussed on “getting the job done”. Once he became a manager, he found himself scrambling to figure out the job of leading a team – wishing he had been trained by his predecessor. This led him to the realization that if a manager really does a good job, they are actively upskilling their team to become leaders themselves. 

Today you will hear about how Tom came to write his book “Manager to Leader” (Amazon) and we dig a little deeper into a few of the topics he covers in this book. Tom is passionate about teaching people to lead well and I was inspired by his worldview on leaders. 

Discussion Points

• Tom’s leadership journey


• Writing “Manager to Leader”


• Managers vs Leaders


• False influence vs genuine influence


• How to influence genuinely


• Leaders being developed before becoming leaders


• Insecure leaders vs secure leaders


• What is micromanagement?


• Changing managers’ mindsets


• Tips 


• Leading up


• What has had the biggest impact on Tom’s leadership journey

Resources

Brendan Rogers Website

Brendan Rogers LinkedIn

The Culture of Leadership Podcast Website

The Culture of Leadership LinkedIn

The Culture of Leadership Facebook Page

The Culture of Leadership YouTube Channel

The Culture of Leadership Instagram

Highly Effective Leader Website

Leadership & Growth YouTube Channel

Manager to leader book (Amazon)

If you have any questions for Brendan around this episode or generally around culture, leadership, or teamwork, feel free to contact him here.